13/04/2016 Asia Business Report


13/04/2016

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Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.

:00:00.:00:13.

Another downgrade, the IMF cuts global growth forecasts again with

:00:14.:00:22.

warns of risks ahead. Give a man a fish and he will eat it. But fish

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farmers in Myanmar are hoping to it for a lifetime. -- hoping to eat

:00:29.:00:40.

it. Good morning, Asia, hello, world, glad you can join us. We

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start with the IMF and the Washington -based group has given a

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pessimistic assessment of the global economy, cutting the growth forecast

:00:53.:01:00.

for the second time in three months, with global expansion this year at

:01:01.:01:05.

3.2%, down from 3.4%, which was forecast in January. Chinese

:01:06.:01:10.

slowdown and weak commodity prices are being blamed but the IMF sees

:01:11.:01:14.

financial risks and geopolitical shocks ahead. Maurice is the chief

:01:15.:01:25.

economist of the IMF. We have seen a loss of momentum in advanced

:01:26.:01:28.

economies in the second half of last year, particularly Japan, but also

:01:29.:01:32.

the United States, the eurozone continues to move along at a subdued

:01:33.:01:37.

pace. We've also seen continuing headwinds in emerging markets,

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including some fairly large emerging markets. Despite China's growth

:01:40.:01:47.

being a major factor in slowing economic expansion the world is the

:01:48.:01:50.

second largest economy was also an unexpected bright spot in the

:01:51.:01:53.

report. Its growth forecast was upgraded slightly. Earlier, our

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correspondent joined us in New York. The IMF revised the Chinese growth

:01:59.:02:04.

forecast to 6.5% for the year, citing policy measures, stimulus

:02:05.:02:08.

measures, that were announced previously as the reason for that.

:02:09.:02:12.

The fund also said it is reducing growth forecasting for China

:02:13.:02:17.

long-term. It also said Chinese efforts to shift away from too much

:02:18.:02:22.

focus on trade and investment to consumer spending at home, while

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that has been rather painful for the rest of the world, because China

:02:27.:02:32.

being a global trade player, it will be beneficial for the Chinese

:02:33.:02:39.

economy long-term. On Wednesday, US time, the IMF will also release

:02:40.:02:43.

another report, the global financial stability report, and in it we are

:02:44.:02:49.

expecting to hear more about China because, obviously, no one needs to

:02:50.:02:52.

tell us how volatile the stock market has been over the last six

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months and the major part of it was the volatility in the Chinese stock

:02:58.:03:01.

market. So, we are expecting to hear more from the IMF about China. Not

:03:02.:03:08.

good news for the third largest economy in the world, Japan, with

:03:09.:03:13.

the IMF expecting a contraction next year. Indeed. Japan is the only

:03:14.:03:19.

event economy to be still expected to be shrinking in 2017. That is

:03:20.:03:25.

according to the IMF. The reason behind that is the expected hike in

:03:26.:03:30.

the sales tax, or the VAT, which at the moment stands at 8%, which is

:03:31.:03:37.

low can head to the rest of the world, but it was 5% two years ago

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and that is still having a knock-on effect on consumer spending --

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compared. There are have been a lot of debate among politicians in Japan

:03:46.:03:49.

whether the planned hike to 10% next year should be delayed, but for now

:03:50.:03:54.

the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is sticking to the original plan and

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that is the reason that the IMF has cited as possible shrinking in the

:03:59.:04:04.

Japanese economy next year. Marico Oi in New York. Moving to social

:04:05.:04:09.

media and Facebook has plans to shake things up again, this time

:04:10.:04:15.

with artificial intelligence, and mounting a service allowing

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companies to create so-called bots which interact with customers over

:04:20.:04:23.

Facebook's messenger service. Here is our

:04:24.:04:27.

Facebook's messenger service. Here is how Mark Zuckerberg explains. No

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one wants a new app for every service a business needs to interact

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with. We think you should be able to message a business in the way you

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message is -- a friend. It should not take your full attention and you

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should not have to install a new app. So, today we are launching a

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messenger platform, so you can build bots for messenger. It is a simple

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platform powered by a artificial intelligence. You can build natural

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language services to communicate directly with people. So, what could

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artificial intelligence services mean for the likes of you and me?

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Well, let's ask a robot. So, what is a chat bot? Why are they popular

:05:17.:05:37.

now? A robot can appeal against parking tickets on your behalf. It

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is due to be launched soon in New York. What does the future look

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like? A chat bot can be your personal assistant. They can tell

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you what the weather is like, order a taxi, ether or even set up a

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holiday. You won't eventually take over? Ummm.... Thank you very much.

:05:59.:06:10.

Moving onto the Chinese on online retail giant Alibaba moving into

:06:11.:06:18.

Southeast Asia, taking a controlling stake in the online retailer Lazada

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for $1 billion US to expand the e-commerce business. The headquarter

:06:24.:06:30.

is here in Singapore, and operates in Philippines, Thailand and

:06:31.:06:32.

Vietnam, mostly the south-east Asian markets. Moving on to oil prices and

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they have rallied to a four-month high following a report that Russia

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and Saudi Arabia have agreed to freeze output, fuelling speculation

:06:44.:06:46.

among investors that prices might reach the so-called golden cross,

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which happens when the 200 day average falls below the 50 day

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average. This indicates a major shift in trading momentum. Prices

:06:56.:07:00.

haven't reached the golden cross since 2014. Myanmar is a country

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rich in water resources and yet fish farming is an underdeveloped

:07:10.:07:11.

industry. It means Paul ruled households are missing out on fish

:07:12.:07:18.

as a source of nutrition as well as income -- poor rural. So, World Fish

:07:19.:07:23.

set up a trade programme for small-scale fishfarming in the hope

:07:24.:07:28.

of improving livelihoods. We have this report now from Myanmar Delta.

:07:29.:07:36.

TRANSLATION: I started a fish farm two years ago. I was inspired by

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those rich people who grow fish. I have five children. I used to grow

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rice and some plants too. But seeing others doing fishfarming, I sold my

:07:54.:08:00.

land and bought a small pond. I prefer to grow fish because it is

:08:01.:08:07.

easier to manage. Right now there are different types of fish in my

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pond and they are always small fish. I only harvest once a year, usually

:08:14.:08:24.

in October or November. Fish is very important for nutrition, for food

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security and also for generating incomes. My name is Gareth Johnston

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and I am the country manager for World Fish. We are in the delta.

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This water has a lot of water resources and people are used to

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fishing but not necessarily doing it in Homestead Poms. Good morning. --

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Homestead ponds. We start off with the very basics in terms of a

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selection of a site for a pond which could be in their garden. Then we

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talk about the fish species, the quality of the water. So, we teach

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them the whole process, from beginning to the end. The government

:09:03.:09:06.

encourage people to grow rice. It doesn't allow users for growing

:09:07.:09:13.

other agricultural projects, particular fish, so converting your

:09:14.:09:17.

field into a fish pond is not a simple procedure and we hope the new

:09:18.:09:22.

government will relax those laws and make it easier for farmers to make

:09:23.:09:28.

those choices. Rice is certainly an important food source and it is a

:09:29.:09:32.

stable but in itself it cannot provide all the nutrients. Fish is a

:09:33.:09:39.

very important protein. In fact, Myanmar, as a number one animal

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protein, is fish. They keep some fish to eat but sell the rest.

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TRANSLATION: La season I made $250 US from selling fish. This year I

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want to earn more, hopefully over $300 US. -- last season. I want to

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do more but I don't have money and I don't have land. My ambition is to

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expand my pond but I do need help. And quickly, before we go, this is

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where Asian markets stand this hour, positive territory after gains

:10:18.:10:22.

in US stocks and rising oil prices. Japan and Sydney gaining 1.7%

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apiece. Thank you so much for investing your time with us. I am

:10:28.:10:32.

Rico Hizon. Have a productive Wednesday. Goodbye for

:10:33.:10:33.

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